Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Here's an easy way to spice up your midweek meals by making something different. It takes a little work, but it's not that bad and once you get the hang of it, you can whip this up pretty quickly.

Ingredients:
Box of large shells
1 Jar pasta sauce (24-26oz)
1 lb. Fresh raw spinach leaves (big rectangular plastic box)
16 oz. Ricotta cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
some olive oil to saute the spinach

Steps:
Preheat the oven to 350.

1. Boil a large pot of water in order to cook your shells. Follow the instructions on the box and cook them till they're just tender, roughly 10 minutes. You'll be handling them after, so once they are done rinse them under cold water to prevent them from sticking to each other and to cool them off for stuffing them.

2. Heat some oil in a large everyday pan (12" with a lid), over medium heat. Once ready, cook half your spinach down for about 5 minutes, stirring to rotate around the leaves. They should cook way down, and look appetizingly done.. nothing like the frozen stuff. Set aside batch one and cook the other half the same way.

3. In a large bowl combine your ricotta, spinach, basil, garlic, onion, salt and half of the Parmesan. You should wind up with a mixture similar to this picture.

4. Dump your jar of sauce into a 9x13 glass baking dish.

5. One by one fill the shells with the mixture and place in the glass dish. Use a metal spoon to get a good amount, and while the shell is cupped in your hand, scoop the mixture inside, using the lip of the shell to push the mixture off the spoon and keep it inside the shell. You'll get the hang of it after a few.

6. Sprinkle the remainder of the Parmesan over the top of the stuffed shells.

7. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes on the middle shelf. I like to then put the broiler on for around 4 minutes to put a nice brown on top.

Enjoy!